And
current first-team regulars Ravel Morrison, Robert Hall and Paul Caddis
are all loaned-in players, while Rooney is with Swindon Town on loan until the summer.

Blues have options, of either two years or one year, on Burke, Caldwell, Elliott, Fahey, Gomis, Reilly, Rooney and Spector.

Curtis
Davies’ contract has 18 months to go (plus a one-year option), while Marlon King’s is due to run out in the summer of 2014.

Nikola Zigic’s Blues contract expires in 2014, as does Nathan Redmond’s and David Murphy’s.

Jack Butland’s agreement runs to 2015 – his is the longest contract Blues are currently committed to.

Blues
development squad has been supplemented by two non-contract players Marcel Henry-Francis and Ryan Higgins, both of whom have been named among the substitutes recently for the first team.

While Reece Hales, who came on for his debut at Leeds United in the FA Cup, is an Academy scholar.

The situation is both a blessing and a curse for Clark.

On
the one hand with so many players’ deals due to expire, it provides him
with a straightforward opportunity to rebuild to his liking at the season’s end – depending on what money is available, the actual financial health of Blues and the ownership issue.

But,
on the other hand, it cannot be ideal asking players to perform, especially with Blues struggling at the wrong end of the Championship table, when they have no security and are unsure where their futures lie.

Throw in the fact Peter
Pannu has made it clear that players have to be moved on during the January transfer window to generate funds and cut costs, Blues’ foundations are hardly solid; there is uncertainty on and off the pitch.

Blues are at Burnley on Saturday, a game which could be Robinson’s last for the club.

Unless a new contract is arranged, the defender may be saying his goodbyes.

Clark
has made no secret of the fact he would like to keep Robinson for the entire season and the player himself is keen to re-sign.

However, Clark had to tell Papa Bouba Diop that his month-to-month contract would not be renewed due to financial reasons.

Like Robinson, Diop joined Blues as a free agent after training at Wast Hills.